N16tn unremitted revenue: Chaos in Reps over summon

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The House of Representatives degenerated into chaos, yesterday, as lawmakers clashed over a motion to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Yemi Cardoso, to appear before the House over N16 trillion revenue, that was allegedly not remitted by the apex bank, to the federal government coffers

While a section of the House insisted that the CBN boss appear before Public Account Committee (PAC), another group disagreed, calling for the Constitution of an Ad-hoc Committee to interface with Cardoso.

Chairman, PAC, Bamidele Salam, in the motion titled: “Non-remittance of over N5 trillion operating surplus and N11 trillion government revenue by the CBN” informed the House that the apex bank has refused to honour invitations from his committee in respect to the issue.

Consequently, Salam prayed the House to invite Cardoso to appear before parliament on December 16 to “explain the non-remittance of the identified government revenues and present a concrete plan for immediate payment of all outstanding amounts into the designated federal government accounts.”

The lawmaker noted that in line with extant laws, the CBN is mandated to

collect, account for and remit all Federal Government revenues accruing through the Remita platform into designated Government accounts in a transparent, efficient and in line with regulatory standards. However, he explained that PAC, in the course of its investigation into Auditor General’s report for the 2022 fiscal year administration of the Remita Revenue Collection System by the apex bank between March 1, 2015 to April 30, discovered “the CBN undisputed liability of N5.2 trillion, in unpaid operating surpluses due to the Federal Government for the years ended 2016 to 2022, which has remained un-remitted to date.

The lawmaker added that the panel also uncovered “refunds of collected charges by the Central Bank of Nigeria: (a) Amount Collected by the Central Bank of Nigeria: N954,302,576.67; (b) Amount Refunded by the Central Bank of Nigeria: N0.00, (c) Difference/Variation N954,302,576.67; (d) Computed Interest at Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 27.25%: N2,329,027,728.92. (e) Total Amount Due for Refund N3,283,330,305.05…”

There was also the discovery of a migration discrepancy amounting to N2,686,325,119,825.10 being outstanding and payable to the Federal Government’s Assets Recovery Account.

Salam stated that cumulatively, “the Committee has uncovered that the CBN is indebted to the Federal Government in the sum of over N11 trillion, arising from the foregoing infractions and discrepancies.

“Despite several formal communications and invitations extended to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by the Public Accounts Committee to appear, provide explanations, and remit the outstanding amounts into designated government’s accounts, the Central Bank of Nigeria has failed, refused or neglected to honour the invitations or effect the required remittances as directed by the Committee.”

Trouble started when Ghali Mustapha Tijjani proposed that an Ad-hoc committee be constituted to handle the assignment.

Ahmed Jaha opposed the motion, insisting that parliament compel the CBN governor to appear before PAC.

“The sacrosanctity of this institution cannot, at whatever level of influence, be compromised because of the powerful nature of a head of an agency.

“What I am trying to say is, in as much as the committee has written severally to the agency and they have not been honouring, this time around is a resolution of the House for them to appear before the committee.

“So, what I am trying to say in a nutshell is, let there be a resolution on the floor of this House forcing and compelling the agency to appear before the committee on public accounts whether they like it or not,” Jaha submitted.

Similarly, Sada Soli expressed concerns over the revelations in Salam’s motion, noting that “this is the only committee that is mentioned in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, this committee is being chaired by an opposition, so I believe they will do the right thing, and I believe they have done the right thing.

“Mr. Speaker, the revelations in this motion are so damning, and they contain a lot of concern for the managers of the economy of this country. They must pay attention to this kind of report.

“Mr. Speaker, I don’t think this House should invite the Governor of the CBN. This House should invoke Order 19, Rule 1, and Rule 2 of our order book. We don’t have to waste time inviting this public officer. We summon him, invoke our rules and summon him.

“Why should the House invite him? After all, the committee that has been charged with the responsibility to do that mission not once, not twice, they have invited this public officer; an appointee of the president disregarded the invitation of a committee, one committee that was mentioned in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (CBN) disregarded, disrespected that committee and the institution that appointed that committee.”

Babajimi Benson supported the constitution of an Ad-hoc Committee that would consist of House Committees on finance, banking regulation and PAC.

But his proposal was also rejected with members on the two divides tackling each other as they tried to push through their position.

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, in frustration, caution the lawmakers over their actions. “I am disappointed with your conduct. We are more than that. This is very unparliamentary.

“What is the point of us shouting? We should not be acting like this. This is not the behavior of honourable members. We are telling the world that we are not what we are supposed to be. Do you need to be shouting?”

Eventually, Tijjani withdrew his earlier motion and the House resolved that the CBN governor should appear before PAC.